Poland's prime minister has distanced himself from comments by the country's defence minister that most of its troops would be withdrawn from Iraq by the end of next year.
Poland, a staunch US ally, has 2,500 soldiers in south-central Iraq and runs a multi-national division there.
So far, 17 Poles have died in Iraq, and opinion polls show nearly three-quarters of the public opposing troop deployment there, putting pressure on Prime Minister Mr Marek Belka to present a timetable for withdrawing the contingent.
Defence Minister Jerzy Szmajdzinski said in a newspaper interview that the troop withdrawal should coincide with the expiry of a UN Security Council resolution that endorsed Iraq's current interim government.
"In my opinion this deadline should be the expiry date of Resolution 1546 of the Security Council . . . (The end of 2005) should be time for our troops' withdrawal," he said. A handful of Polish officers and observers could stay longer as part of any continued stabilisation mission, he added.
But Mr Belka said he had not authorised Mr Szmajdzinski to make such a statement, which departs from Warsaw's long-standing position that troops would remain in Iraq "as long as it takes" to complete their mission.
Mr Belka, who before becoming prime minister in May worked for nearly a year at the US-led temporary administration in Iraq, said Mr Szmajdzinski did not clear his comments with him.